Guanine nucleotide binding properties of the mammalian RalA protein produced in Escherichia coli

The simian ralA cDNA was inserted in a ptac expression vector, and high amounts of soluble ral protein were expressed in Escherichia coli. The purified p24ral contains 1 mol of bound nucleotide/mol of protein that can be exchanged against external nucleotide. The ral protein exchanges GDP with a t 1/2 of 90 min at 37 degrees C in the presence of Mg2+, and has a low GTPase activity (0.07 min-1 at 37 degrees C). We have also studied its affinity for various guanine nucleotides and analogs. NMR measurements show that the three-dimensional environment around the nucleotide is similar in p21ras and p24ral. In addition to these studies on the wild-type ral protein, we used in vitro mutagenesis to introduce substitutions corresponding to the Val12, Val12 + Thr59, and Leu61 substitutions of p21ras. These mutant ral proteins display altered nucleotide exchange kinetics and GTPase activities, however, the effects of the substitutions are less pronounced than in the ras proteins. p24ralVal12 + Thr59 autophosphorylates on the substituted Thr, as a side reaction of the GTP hydrolysis, but the rate is much lower than those of the Thr59 mutants of p21ras. These results show that ras and ral proteins have similar structures and biochemical properties. Significant differences are found, however, in the contribution of the Mg2+ ion to GDP binding, in the rate of the GTPase reaction and in the sensitivity of these two proteins to substitutions around the phosphate-binding site, suggesting that the various "small G-proteins" of the ras family perform different functions.     

Biochemical and biological activity of phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated ras p21 mutants.

In contrast to all cellular ras oncogenes which carry a single activating mutation at codon 12, 13 or 61, all known retroviral ras oncogenes have two mutations at codons 12 and 59. To understand the role of the mutation at codon 59, we have constructed plasmids containing genes for Harvey ras: p21(Gly-12,Thr-59) and p21(Val-12,Thr-59). Escherichia coli expressed proteins and their respective phosphorylated (Pi) and non-phosphorylated (non-Pi) proteins were purified to 95% homogeneity by ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. GTPase, autophosphorylation and nucleotide exchange activities of the mutants were studied. When the mutants were microinjected into Xenopus oocytes, the non-phosphorylated forms of p21(Gly-12,Thr-59) and p21(Val-12,Thr-59) showed high activity. Surprisingly, their phosphorylated forms were inactive. These results suggest that threonine at position 59 endows the protein with transforming activity but that phosphorylation of the residue inhibits biological activity. A structural interpretation of the observation is presented.     

Conformational alterations detected by circular dichroism induced in the normal ras p21 protein by activating point mutations at position 12, 59, or 61

Activation of the oncogenic potential of ras oncogenes occurs by point mutations at codons 12, 13, 59, 61, and 63 of the sequences that codify for its product, a 21-kDa protein designated as p21. This activation has been postulated by computer models as modifiers of the structure of the protein, which may alter its biochemical and biological activities. We have expressed in bacteria the normal ras p21 and five mutated p21 proteins with mutations at positions 12, 59, 61, 12 plus 59, and 12 plus 61. Purification was carried out by solubilization from bacterial pellets in 7 M urea and chromatography through a Sephadex G-100 column to obtain greater than 95% purified proteins. Circular dichroic (CD) spectra showed that the normal protein and that activated by substitution of Ala59 to Thr59 are very similar in their overall structure. By contrast, point mutations affecting either 12 or 61 residues substantially altered the structure of the proteins. When the parameters of Chen et al. [Biochemistry II, 4120-4131 (1972)] were applied to the CD spectra, both normal and thr59-mutated ras proteins showed a less organized structure than mutated proteins at position 12 or 61. Since the Thr59 mutant has more similar transforming activity than other activated proteins, but a GTPase activity similar to that of the normal protein, our results support the hypothesis that there is more than one mechanism of activation of the ras p21 protein. One of these mechanisms involves important structural alterations by point mutations at position 12 or 61 which reduce the GTPase activity of the protein. Another mechanism will be that induced by a substitution of Ala59 to Thr59 which does not substantially alter the protein conformation. A putative alternative mechanism for the activation of this mutant is discussed.     

Activation of ras p21 transforming properties associated with an increase in the release rate of bound guanine nucleotide.

An Ala-to-Thr substitution at position 59 activates the transforming properties of the p21ras protein without impairment of GTPase activity, a biochemical alteration associated with other activating mutations. To investigate the basis for the transforming properties of the Thr-59 mutant, we characterized guanine nucleotide release. This reaction exhibited a slow rate and stringent temperature requirements. To further dissect the release reaction, we used monoclonal antibodies directed against different epitopes of the p21 molecule. One monoclonal specifically interfered with nucleotide release, while others which recognized different regions of the molecule blocked nucleotide binding. Mutants with the Thr-59 substitution exhibited a three- to ninefold-higher rate of GDP and GTP release than normal p21 or mutants with other activating lesions. This alteration in the Thr-59 mutant would have the effect of increasing its rate of nucleotide exchange. In an intracellular environment with a high GTP/GDP ratio, this would favor the association of GTP with the Thr-59 mutant. Consistent with knowledge of known G-regulatory proteins, these findings support a model in which the p21-GTP complex is the biologically active form of the p21 protein.     

H-ras mutants lacking the epitope for the neutralizing monoclonal antibody Y13-259 show decreased biological activity and are deficient in GTPase-activating protein interaction.

We have generated deletion mutants of the H-ras p21 protein which lack residues 58 to 63 or 64 to 68 and contain either the normal glycine or an activating mutation, arginine, at position 12. None of the deleted proteins were recognized by monoclonal antibody Y13-259, and those mutants with activating mutations showed at least a 100-fold reduction in their transforming activities compared with the activities of their nondeleted counterparts. Alterations observed in the in vitro GTPase or GTP interchange properties of the deletion mutants were not consistent with the decrease in their transforming activities. Moreover, each mutant showed normal membrane localization, which is essential for its biological activity. Recently, a newly identified protein, designated GTPase-activating protein (GAP), was found to markedly increase GTPase activity of the normal ras p21 but not of p21 mutants bearing activating lesions (H. Adari, D. R. Lowy, B. M. Willumsen, C. J. Der, and F. McCormick, Science 240:518-521, 1988). We showed that GAP had no effect on the in vitro GTPase activity of the deletion mutants of the normal p21 protein. Since similar deletions in mutants with activating lesions at position 12 or 59 or both showed decreased transforming activity, our results suggest that the recognition site for Y13-259 within the ras p21 molecule influences directly or indirectly the interaction of ras p21 with GAP and that this interaction is critical for biological activity of ras proteins.     

p21 with a phenylalanine 28----leucine mutation reacts normally with the GTPase activating protein GAP but nevertheless has transforming properties

The H-ras gene product p21H has been mutated at Phe-28, which makes a hydrophobic interaction with the guanine base of bound GDP/GTP. The mutation Phe-28----Leu drastically increases nucleotide dissociation rates without affecting association rates. This is due to a perturbed binding of base, alpha- and beta-phosphate, and Mg2+, as evidenced from 31P NMR and fluorescence measurements. The region around the gamma-phosphate appears normal. The affinity of Mg2+ for both the di- and the triphosphate conformation of the mutant was also measured by fluorescence. The association constant is 3.5 x 10(7) M-1 for the Gpp(NH)p complex, 500 times higher than for the GDP form. The mutation does not change appreciably the intrinsic or the GTPase activating protein (GAP)-stimulated GTPase. The mutated protein induces neurite differentiation however when pressure-loaded into PC12 cells, which is equivalent to transformation of NIH 3T3 cells. This shows that p21 (F28L) is converted to the GDP bound form by GAP but is transforming because the high dissociation rate for nucleotides leads to a protein predominantly in the active GTP bound form.     

Critical amino acids of p21 protein are located within beta-turns: further evaluation

It has been shown that malignant activation of ras proto-oncogenes was mediated by point mutations which resulted in the single amino acid conversions at positions 12, 13 or 61 of the ras gene products (p21 proteins). By analyzing randomly mutated ras genes, it has been demonstrated that amino acid substitutions at residues 12, 13, 59 and 63 activated p21. Furthermore, it has been shown that residues 16, 116 and 119 in p21 played critical roles in the guanine nucleotide binding and, consequently, the ability of the protein to induce changes characteristic of cellular transformation. By using the protein conformational prediction method of Chou and Fasman, the present work predicts that these critical amino acids, except glutamic acid at position 63, are located within beta-turns. The major "hot spots" for ras activation are codons 12 and 61. The author has predicted in an earlier paper that the single amino acid conversions at positions 12 and 61 would occur at beta-turn conformation consisting of residues 10-13 and 58-61, respectively. In the present study, probabilities of beta-turn occurrence at residues 10-13 or 58-61 of the p21 proteins encoded by various ras genes are compared. The probability for the normal p21 containing glycine as residue 12 is greatest, and the cancer-associated variants show less probabilities. The single amino acid substitutions at position 61 do not cause so decreased probabilities of beta-turn potential at residues 58-61, except the replacement by histidine. Histidine at position 61 is not predicted as occurring within a beta-turn.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Ras p21 proteins with high or low GTPase activity can efficiently transform NIH/3T3 cells

We sought to determine whether decreased in vitro GTPase activity is uniformly associated with ras p21 mutants possessing efficient transforming properties. Normal H-ras p21-[Gly12-Ala59] as well as an H-ras p21-[Gly12-Thr59] mutant exhibited in vitro GTPase activities at least fivefold higher than either H-ras p21-[Lys12-Ala59] or H-ras p21-[Arg12-Thr59] mutants. Microinjection of as much as 6 X 10(6) molecules/cell of bacterially expressed normal H-ras p21 induced no detectable alterations of NIH/3T3 cells. In contrast, inoculation of 4-5 X 10(5) molecules/cell of each p21 mutant induced morphologic alterations and stimulated DNA synthesis. Moreover, the transforming activity of each mutant expressed in a eukaryotic vector was similar and at least 100-fold greater than that of the normal H-ras gene. These findings establish that activation of efficient transforming properties by ras p21 proteins can occur by mechanisms not involving reduced in vitro GTPase activity.     

GIT1 activates p21-activated kinase through a mechanism independent of p21 binding

p21-activated kinases (PAKs) associate with a guanine nucleotide exchange factor, Pak-interacting exchange factor (PIX), which in turn binds the paxillin-associated adaptor GIT1 that targets the complex to focal adhesions. Here, a detailed structure-function analysis of GIT1 reveals how this multidomain adaptor also participates in activation of PAK. Kinase activation does not occur via Cdc42 or Rac1 GTPase binding to PAK. The ability of GIT1 to stimulate alphaPAK autophosphorylation requires the participation of the GIT N-terminal Arf-GAP domain but not Arf-GAP activity and involves phosphorylation of PAK at residues common to Cdc42-mediated activation. Thus, the activation of PAK at adhesion complexes involves a complex interplay between the kinase, Rho GTPases and protein partners that provide localization cues.     

Relationship among guanine nucleotide exchange, GTP hydrolysis, and transforming potential of mutated ras proteins.

The effect of a series of mutations on the transforming potential of normal human rasH has been compared with their effects on GTPase and guanine nucleotide exchange rates of p21. The mutation Val-146 resulted in partial activation of transforming potential which could be attributed to a greater than 1,000-fold-increased rate of nucleotide exchange in the absence of an effect on GTPase. In contrast, the more modest enhancement of exchange rate (approximately 100-fold) which resulted from the mutation Met-14 did not affect biological activity. The partially activating mutation Thr-59 was found to result in both a 5-fold reduction in GTPase and a 10-fold increase in nucleotide exchange. However, the nontransforming mutant Ile-59 displayed a comparable decrease in GTPase without an effect on nucleotide exchange. The activating effect of the Thr-59 mutation may thus represent a combined effect of reduced GTPase and increased exchange. Similarly, the strongly activating mutation Leu-61 resulted in a fivefold increase in nucleotide exchange in addition to decreased GTPase, whereas weakly activating mutations at position 61 (Trp and Pro) resulted only in decreased GTPase without affecting nucleotide exchange rates. Finally, combining the two mutations Met-14 and Ile-59, which alone had no effect on biological activity, yielded a double mutant with a 20-fold increased transforming potential, demonstrating a synergistic effect of these two mutations. Overall, these results indicate that large increases in nucleotide exchange can activate ras transforming potential in the absence of decreased GTPase and that relatively modest increases in nucleotide exchange can act synergistically with decreased GTPase to contribute to ras activation.     

Electron paramagnetic resonance measurements of the hydration of Mn(II) in ternary complexes with GDP and ras p21 proteins

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy has been used to determine the hydration numbers of Mn(II) in complexes with GDP and three forms of ras p21. EPR signals of Mn(II) in the GDP complex with viral-Harvey p21pRAS1 (Arg 12, Thr 59), p21EC (Gly 12, Thr 59), and p21EJ (Val 12, Thr 59) have narrow line-widths that permit ready observation of inhomogeneous broadening from unresolved superhyperfine coupling with the nuclear spin of 17O of directly coordinated oxygen ligands. Quantitative analysis of the lineshapes for the samples in H2 17O-enriched water indicates that four water ligands coordinate to the metal ion in the GDP complexes with all three proteins. The four solvent ligands, together with an oxygen from the beta-phosphate group of GDP, leave space for only one ligand from the protein. An X-ray diffraction-derived model for the MgII beta-gamma-imidoguanosine-5'-triphosphate complex with p21 shows coordination of Mg(II) to the beta- and gamma-phosphate groups of the nucleotide as well as to the hydroxyl groups of Thr 35 and Ser 17 (Pai, E.F., Kabusch, W., Krengel, U., Holmes, K. H., John, J., and Wittinghofer, A., 1989, Nature (London) 341, 209-214). Thus, upon conversion of the nucleotide from a triphosphate to a diphosphate, solvent replaces both the gamma-phosphate of the nucleotide and one of the protein ligands. The EPR results are consistent with a recent X-ray crystallographic model for the p21-MgIIGDP complex (Milburn, M. V., Tong, L., DeVos, A. M., Brunger, A., Yamaizumi, Z., Nishimura, S., and Kim, S.-H., 1990, Science 247, 939-945). EPR spectra of complexes with the three forms of ras p21 differ with respect to the intrinsic linewidths of the EPR signals. These subtle differences in linewidth appear to originate from slight differences in local disorder near the metal-nucleotide binding site.     

Effect of divalent metal ions and glycerol on the GTPase activity of H-ras proteins

The product of the protooncogenic ras gene (p21N ras) exhibits a weak GTPase activity. A significant increase in the GTPase activity associated with p21N ras protein was obtained by using glycerol in the assay mixture. Of the several metal ions tested, only Mg++ and Mn++ are effective divalent cations that support the GTPase activity of p21N ras protein. p21N ras protein exhibits higher GTPase activity and yields higher [3H] GDP binding in the presence of MnCl2 than with MgCl2. Optimal GTPase and [3H] GDP binding are obtained at micromolar concentrations of MgCl2 or MnCl2. Concentrations in the millimolar range of either MgCl2 or MnCl2 are inhibitory to the GTPase activity, whereas [3H] GDP binding was not affected.     

Mutational and kinetic analyses of the GTPase-activating protein (GAP)-p21 interaction: the C-terminal domain of GAP is not sufficient for full activity.

The GTPase-activating protein (GAP) stimulates the GTPase reaction of p21 by 5 orders of magnitude such that the kcat of the reaction is increased to 19 s-1. Mutations of residues in loop L1 (Gly-12 and Gly-13), in loop L2 (Thr-35 and Asp-38), and in loop L4 (Gln-61 and Glu-63) influence the reaction in different ways, but all of these mutant p21 proteins still form complexes with GAP. The C-terminal domain of the human GAP gene product, GAP334, which comprises residues 714 to 1047, is 20 times less active than full-length GAP on a molar basis and has a fourfold lower affinity. This finding indicates that the N terminus of GAP containing the SH2 domains modifies the interaction between the catalytic domain and p21.     

Biological and biochemical properties of human rasH genes mutated at codon 61

Using site-directed mutagenesis, we have introduced mutations encoding 17 different amino acids at codon 61 of the human rasH gene. Fifteen of these substitutions increased rasH transforming activity. The remaining two mutants, encoding proline and glutamic acid, displayed transforming activities similar to the normal gene. Overall, these mutants vary over 1000-fold in transforming potency. Increased levels of p21 expression were required for transformation by weakly transforming mutants. The mutant proteins were unaltered in guanine nucleotide binding properties. However, all 17 different mutant proteins displayed equivalently reduced rates of GTP hydrolysis, 8- to 10-fold lower than the normal protein. There was no quantitative correlation between reduction in GTPase activity and transformation, indicating that reduced GTP hydrolysis is not sufficient to activate ras transforming potential.     

CD2 antigen mediated activation of the guanine nucleotide binding proteins p21ras in human T lymphocytes.

T cell stimulation via the TCR complex (TCR/CD3 complex) results in activation of the guanine nucleotide binding proteins encoded by the ras protooncogenes (p21ras). In the present study we show that the activation state of p21ras in T lymphocytes can also be controlled by triggering of the CD2 Ag. The activation state of p21ras is controlled by GTP levels on p21ras. In T cells stimulation of protein kinase C is able to induce an accumulation of "active" p21ras-GTP complexes due to an inhibitory effect of protein kinase C stimulation on the intrinsic GTPase activity of p21ras. The regulatory effect of protein kinase C on p21ras GTPase activity appears to be mediated via regulation of GAP, the GTPase activating protein of p21ras. In the present report, we demonstrate that the TCR/CD3 complex and the CD2 Ag control the accumulation of p21ras-GTP complexes via a regulatory effect on p21ras GTPase activity. The TCR/CD3 complex and CD2 Ag are also able to control the cellular activity of GAP. These data demonstrate that p21ras is part of the signal transduction responses controlled by the CD2 Ag, and reveal that the TCR/CD3 complex and CD2 Ag control the activation state of p21ras via a similar mechanism.     

Crystal structures at 2.2 A resolution of the catalytic domains of normal ras protein and an oncogenic mutant complexed with GDP

The biological functions of ras proteins are controlled by the bound guanine nucleotide GDP or GTP. The GTP-bound conformation is biologically active, and is rapidly deactivated to the GDP-bound conformation through interaction with GAP (GTPase Activating Protein). Most transforming mutants of ras proteins have drastically reduced GTP hydrolysis rates even in the presence of GAP. The crystal structures of the GDP complexes of ras proteins at 2.2 A resolution reveal the detailed interaction between the ras proteins and the GDP molecule. All the currently known transforming mutation positions are clustered around the bound guanine nucleotide molecule. The presumed "effector" region and the GAP recognition region are both highly exposed. No significant structural differences were found between the GDP complexes of normal ras protein and the oncogenic mutant with valine at position 12, except the side-chain of the valine residue. However, comparison with GTP-analog complexes of ras proteins suggests that the valine side-chain may inhibit GTP hydrolysis in two possible ways: (1) interacting directly with the gamma-phosphate and altering its orientation or the conformation of protein residues around the phosphates; and/or (2) preventing either the departure of gamma-phosphate on GTP hydrolysis or the entrance of a nucleophilic group to attack the gamma-phosphate. The structural similarity between ras protein and the bacterial elongation factor Tu suggests that their common structural motif might be conserved for other guanine nucleotide binding proteins.     

Comparison of the computed structures for the phosphate-binding loop of the p21 protein containing the oncogenic site Gly 12 with the X-ray crystallographic structures for this region in the p21 protein and EFtu. A model for the structure of the p21 protein in its oncogenic form

The GTP-binding p21 protein encoded by the ras-oncogene can be activated to cause malignant transformation of cells by substitution of a single amino acid at critical positions along the polypeptide chain. Substitution of any non-cyclic L-amino acid for Gly 12 in the normal protein results in a transforming protein. This substitution occurs in a hydrophobic sequence (residues 6-15) which is known to be involved in binding the phosphate moities of GTP (and GDP). We find, using conformational energy calculations, that the 6-15 segment of the normal protein (with Gly 12) adopts structures that contain a bend at residues 11 and 12 with the Gly in the D* conformation, not allowed energetically for L-amino acids. Substitution of non-cyclic L-amino acids for Gly 12 results in shifting this bend to residues 12 and 13. We show that many computed structures for the Gly 12-containing phosphate binding loop, segment 9-15, are superimposable on the corresponding segment of the recently determined X-ray crystallographic structure for residues 1-171 of the p21 protein. All such structures contain bends at residues 11 and 12 and most of these contain Gly 12 in the C* or D* conformational state. Other computed conformations for the 9-15 segment were superimposable on the structure of the corresponding 18-23 segment of EFtu, the bacterial chain elongation factor having structural similarities to the p21 protein in the phosphate-binding regions. This segment contains a Val residue where a Gly occurs in the p21 protein. As previously predicted, all of these superimposable conformations contain a bend at positions 12 and 13, not 11 and 12. If these structures that are superimposable on EFtu are introduced into the p21 protein structure, bad contacts occur between the sidechain of the residue (here Val) at position 12 and another phosphate binding loop region around position 61. These bad contacts between the two segments can be removed by changing the conformation of the 61 region in the p21 protein to the corresponding position of the homologous region in EFtu. In this new conformation, a large site becomes available for the binding of phosphate residues. In addition, such phenomena as autophosphorylation of the p21 protein by GTP can be explained with this new model structure for the activated protein which cannot be explained by the structure for the non-activated protein.     

Biochemical and biological activities of N-ras proteins

Recombinant N-ras proteins, expressed and produced from synthetic genes cloned into E. coli, have been tested in vitro for GTPase and autophosphorylation activity. The genes corresponding to the assayed proteins were tested for their ability to transform NIH 3T3 cells. Mutations of glutamine to lysine at amino acid position 61 and glycine to valine at position 12 were both found to activate the ability of the N-ras gene to transform NIH 3T3 cells while significantly reducing the GTPase activity of the corresponding protein. N-ras proteins were also found to autophosphorylate in the presence of GTP when a threonine acceptor amino acid is provided at position 59.     

Activated Conformations of the ras-gene-Encoded p21 Protein. 1. An Energy-Refined Structure for the Normal p21 Protein Complexed with GDP

Abstract

A complete three-dimensional structure for the ras-gene-encoded p21 protein with Gly 12 and Gin 61, bound to GDP, has been constructed in four stages using the available α-carbon coordinates as deposited in the Brookhaven National Laboratories Protein Data Bank. No all-atom structure has been made available despite the fact that the first crystallographic structure for the p21 protein was reported almost four years ago. In the p21 protein, if amino acid substitutions are made at any one of a number of different positions in the amino acid sequence, the protein becomes permanently activated and causes malignant transformation of normal cells or, in some cell lines, differentiation and maturation. For example, all amino acids except Gly and Pro at position 12 result in an oncogenic protein; all amino acids except Gin, Glu and Pro at position 61 likewise cause malignant transformation of cells. We have constructed our all-atom structure of the non-oncogenic protein from the x-ray structure in order to determine how oncogenic amino acid substitutions affect the three-dimensional structure of this protein. In Stage 1 we generated a poly-alanine backbone (except at Gly and Pro residues) through the α-carbon structure, requiring the individual Ala, Pro or Gly residues to conform to standard amino acid geometry and to form trans-planar peptide bonds. Since no a-carbon coordinates for residues 60–65 have been determined these residues were modeled by generating them in the extended conformation and then subjecting them to molecular dynamics using the computer application DISCOVER and energy minimization using DISCOVER and the ECEPP (Empirical Conformational Energies for Peptides Program). In Stage 2, the positions of residues that are homologous to corresponding residues of bacterial elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) to which p21 bears an overall 40% sequence homology, were determined from their corresponding positions in a high-resolution structure of EF-Tu. Non-homologous loops were taken from the structure generated in Stage 1 and were placed between the appropriate homologous segments so as to connect them. In Stage 3, all bad contacts that occurred in this resulting structure were removed, and the coordinates of the α-carbon atoms were forced to superimpose as closely as possible on the corresponding atoms of the reference (x-ray) structure. Then the side chain positions of residues of the nonhomologous loop regions were modeled using a combination of molecular dynamics and energy minimization using DISCOVER and ECEPP respectively. All of the residues of the structure were then allowed to move under restrained energy minimization where the restraints were gradually removed. In Stage 4, the nucleotide GOP was added to the model and further energy minimization was carried out. The energy of the protein-GOP complex was minimized by allowing the atoms of GOP to move with the protein held fixed and then by allowing both the nucleotide and the residues of the protein to move together. The reconstructed model agrees with the published features of the p21 protein-GOP complex including the hydrogen bonding scheme, the distribution of backbone dihedral angles, the residues contacting the nucleotide, and the orientation of loops with respect to one another in the protein. The structure also agrees with one that was predicted previously (Chen, J.M. et al., J. Biomol. Struct. Dynamics 6, 850–875 (1989)). In our molecular dynamics-energy minimization procedures, we also have been able to place all residues except Ala 66, which occurs in a poorly-defined region crystallographically, in local single residue minima, including residues reported to be in high energy regions in the x-ray structure. The constructed model can explain observed physical phenomena such as autophosphorylation by GTP on Thr 59 in proteins containing Thr in place of Ala 59.     

Characterization of the autophosphorylation of Era, an essential Escherichia coli GTPase

Era is an essential protein in Escherichia coli which binds both GTP and GDP and has an intrinsic GTPase activity. Studies on the role of GTP/GDP binding and GTPase activity in an attempt to understand its function lead to the observation that Era is autophosphorylated. The autophosphorylated reaction is specific for GTP and cannot use ATP as a phosphoryl group donor. The reaction velocity is of first order with respect to protein concentration, suggesting an intramolecular mechanism. Autophosphorylation occurs at serine and threonine residues. The major phosphorylated tryptic peptide isolated after autophosphorylation has been identified as ISITSR, from residue 33 to 38. The peptide contains the site of phosphorylation and two potential sites for serine and threonine phosphorylation. Subsequently, both the threonine residue at position 36 and the serine residue at position 37 were altered to alanine. The double mutant Era, but not individual single mutants, was unable to functionally complement the growth of an E. coli strain which cannot produce wild-type Era protein at high temperature. This suggests that either threonine 36 or serine 37 has to exist for the function of Era In vivo. phosphorylation of Era was also examined by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Era has been previously assigned two distinct positions having two different X-Y co-ordinates: one of the spots (H032.0) was identified as phosphorylated Era, indicating that a substantial portion of Era in the cell is indeed phosphorylated. Therefore, Era autophosphorylation is likely to play an important physiological role in the cell. The sequence encoding the C-terminus previously published had a missing C between A900 and GgO1. As a resuit of the frameshift, Era consists of 301 residues, 15 fewer than originaiiy reported.